


how do i say "i like you" in moomin?

by wegotjamsdude



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Adorable, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Cute, Fluff, I Tried, M/M, Moomins, Not Beta Read, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and jaemin is in love with him too much, i hope its considered 5+1, renjun loves moomins too much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 08:03:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15190424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wegotjamsdude/pseuds/wegotjamsdude
Summary: Five times Renjun draws for Jaemin and that one time when it went the other way around.





	how do i say "i like you" in moomin?

**Author's Note:**

> honestly, i dont know if i can write fluff so this is me practicing????? also, this is very short.

“We should name them,” Renjun declares, holding up the small scented cardboard next to his pretty face. Jaemin smiles at the other, then stares back at the drawings on the cardboard, humming in thought as he plays along. It’s a drawing of two Moomins, one Renjun-like and the other Jaemin-like (or that’s what Renjun insists, the only difference between the two Moomins were the hair color and their clothes).

Renjun slams the cardboard back down on his desk then taps the first Moomin, Renjun-like Moomin, with the eraser tip of his pencil, “He will be Moomin-Jun.” He giggles. Jaemin couldn’t help but giggle along, the sound of Renjun’s laugh tingling in his mind. He sounded like he’s thought about this before.

He taps the other Moomin drawing, Jaemin-like Moomin, twice. Renjun’s forehead crease a little, maybe a little too deep in thought. He’s taking this seriously, Jaemin fights the urge to coo at his best friend. Finally, Renjun opens his mouth in a silent “Ah!” then smiles up at Jaemin, “Jae-Moomin!”

“It’s cute,” Jaemin opts to say, ruffling Renjun’s hair as he giggles. Renjun had frowned at his messed hair, so Jaemin fixed it back for him with a knowing laugh. They gather all of Renjun’s colored pencils, and class starts.

* * *

 

Jaemin had opened his locker in a surprise. The moment he did, a familiar small pinkish cardboard slips out.It’s scented, and Jaemin knew. He laughs to himself before flipping the paper, laughing even longer as he eyes the familiar Moomin drawing in it—Jae-Moomin.

It’s a Monday, and Jaemin still has a lingering weekend hangover. He had always dreaded the first day of the week, but today seems to be a lot more different.

Jae-Moomin is holding his backpack lazily, his eyes showing visible signs of drowsiness. His uniform is slightly wrinkled at the edges, and his hair is a little frizzy than Jaemin had remembered. Under it is a neatly scribbled Korean sentence, obviously carefully written: _It’s a Monday and Jae-Moomin hates Mondays, but I hope he starts the day with a smile!_

He slips the paper on one of his notebooks, reminding himself to pin it on the small corkboard he has in his room. And Renjun is right, just like that. Jaemin starts his day with a smile.

* * *

 

Jaemin didn’t anticipate for it the next day.

It’s a Tuesday, and he’s got a Biology test coming up first thing in the morning. He had practically dragged himself to school, eyes still drooping from the lack of sleep. He had studied last night, it took him a while and eventually slept in his desk. Jaemin woke up with an aching back and neck, and that was not a great way to start a morning when you have a test coming up in less than two hours.

The small pinkish cardboard slips out, but Jaemin caught it this time. He flips it and sees the familiar Jae-Moomin drawing. His hair is fixed today, and his uniform not wrinkled. He has a stack of books in his small white arms and a dust of blush in his almost non-existent cheeks. Underneath the drawing is another note, still scribbled in straight strokes and perfect curves of Hangul: _Good luck on your test today! I know you’ll ace it!_

Jaemin lets out a puff of breath in utter admiration. Renjun is so pure, and it’s so cute. He feels the familiar heat in his cheeks, then slips the note into his notebook (not before cooling down his overheated face, of course. He’s not settling in being obvious).

He’s smiling and practically skipping his way to his classroom, all thanks to a certain Moomin-freak called Huang Renjun.

Jaemin gets a certified excellent score for his test. Renjun says it’s because he’s smart and that he studied a lot, but Jaemin says it’s because of him.

* * *

 

He’s anticipating for it. If Renjun sent him notes at his locker twice in a row, Jaemin believes that the third one would arrive today. Except that it doesn’t.

He opens his locker with a smile and a hand waiting for the note to slip, but it doesn’t come. He looks around the small confines of his locker briefly, then frowns a little in disappointment at the absence of a small pinkish cardboard anywhere.

He shuts it close, then makes his way to his classroom with drooped shoulders and a practiced smile. It’s when he’s already seated on his assigned seat that Jaemin realizes the lack of something other than another drawing of Jae-Moomin.

There’s no pretty smile that greets him in the doorway, and there’s no cheerful “Good morning!” from his best friend. There’s no Renjun in the room. Not even five minutes after. Not even when their teacher walked in, and not even when class starts.

Jaemin is growing worried. If he was sick, Renjun would definitely have texted him. He’s distracted from his worried state when the classroom door slowly opens, revealing a small slumped frame. The boy’s head is bowing as he mutters an apology for being ten minutes late.

Jaemin sighs in utter relief. Renjun was okay, just ten minutes late.

The teacher dismissed him and he’s stepping inside to his seat, smiling at Jaemin when they locked eyes. Jaemin grips on his pen tighter, biting his lip as he smiles back, cheeks burning from his blush. He sees the small pinkish cardboard peeking from Renjun’s pockets, his face grew hotter.

Renjun slips the note into his desk when he passes by him to his own seat, winking lightly as he did so. Jaemin looks back at him, an amused grin on his face, then shakes his head. He flips the cardboard and sees that Jae-Moomin isn’t alone today.

He’s sitting on one of what looked like the wooden tables of their school yard, Moomin-Jun in front of him. Their crescent eyes is a giveaway that they’re laughing, as lunchboxes were in front of them, small pointy hands holding a pair of chopsticks in between.

The note underneath is colorful, but still carefully scribbled Korean: _Wednesdays are great for lunches at the courtyard! Enjoy a meal with Moomin-Jun ;)_

Renjun is going to be the death of Jaemin one day.

* * *

 

Thursdays were his favorite. Thursdays meant he had his two-hour gym class, and gym classes aren’t always about sports and other physical activities. Sometimes, Mr. Jung was too lazy that he just let them laze off at the gymnasium after a few rounds of exercises. So, today, it was a thirty-minute gym class and an hour and a half vacant time.

Sure, he did sports. He loved it just as much as he loved dancing with Jeno and Jisung. But Renjun doesn’t. The other boy hated strenuous activities with a burning passion.

The note in his locker was there this morning. On it was yet another doodle of Jae-Moomin. This time, in his complete sports uniform, eyes slightly frazzled with a cute amount of sweat scribbled on the side of its “face”. Oh, and Jae-Moomin isn’t alone too. Moomin-Jun was drawn on one edge of the pink cardboard, smiling and visibly cheering on Jae-Moomin.

Jaemin chuckles at the memory of the note tucked in his locker hours ago, finding it amusing at how the drawing was _very_ accurate at the moment.

Renjun was hiding behind the bleachers as he always did whenever Mr. Jung made them do laps around the school’s oval. Today was no different. Jaemin saw him of course, he always did. And Renjun would always smile back with a small wave, lips mumbling a small “fighting!” towards him.

He’s on his last lap, and when he passes by Renjun’s area, the small frame wasn’t behind the bleachers. His eyebrows furrowed, steps halting as he looks around for the boy. Their teacher hasn’t caught him, but he was nowhere in the area. He might have escaped the class, Jaemin thinks as he wiped off the slick sweat on the side of his face.

He cautiously looked around, dodging his running classmates. Renjun is still nowhere in his sight. Jaemin had planned on going back to their classroom to look for the boy when suddenly something flaps on top of his head, a familiar giggle sounding behind him following.

Jaemin whines, but laughs along Renjun anyway. He takes the small towel that the other had thrown over his head, wrapping it around his neck.

“Hey,” Renjun says.

Jaemin looks at his best friend who had the loveliest smile adorning his lips. He was shining, glowing, in front of Jaemin. The taller boy quirks up an eyebrow, feigning ignorance at something Renjun was obviously hiding behind his back.

Renjun bounces once on his toes, finally revealing it, whatever it was.

Jaemin had thought that he braced himself for it, for whatever was coming. But he definitely didn’t expect Renjun’s adorableness to sky-rocket a full hundred percent (it might even be more than that) in a matter of split seconds because the smaller boy holds up a familiar pink rose-scented cardboard. He holds it in between both of his thumbs and indexes up to his nose, eyes smiling just above it.

He swore his heart stopped for a while.

Jaemin knows that he had obviously blushed, but still, he forces his face to cool down and takes the piece of cardboard.

As expected, Jae-Moomin is on it. Although the curves and lines were a bit rushed and messy, but it still looked pretty much like how Renjun does it everyday. Jae-Moomin was still in his gym clothes, only with a fluffy towel draped over his head. Just like how Jaemin exactly looked like currently. Below it, still written in neat Hangul (Jaemin swears that Renjun was “more Korean” than he was), was; _Dry your sweat properly! Your best friend doesn’t want you to stink!_

“Two moomins for today?” Jaemin says, amusement laced in his tone.

Renjun grins, his perfect teeth showing, “Why not?”

Jaemin laughs, cheeks still dusted with pink because of how adorable Renjun was that it was getting unhealthy for him. Renjun chuckles with him before skipping off to the other side of the gymnasium, back to his spot behind the bleachers. Jaemin’s eyes follow him, until he takes the white towel from his head, tracing a finger on the initials sewed on it; HRJ.

* * *

 

Jaemin stared, with an intense glare for emphasis, at the pink cardboards pinned on his corkboard above his desk. He had been sitting there for hours trying to learn how Renjun drew the moomins perfectly. Each curve was carefully scribbled it was almost as if it was printed rather than drawn. The smaller blue cardboard laid flat on his desk with his pencil beside it. Jaemin had lost count on how many times he had already tried to draw an image of the same moomin, of Moomin-Jun, but he was never really great for art. Even in doodling, he was helpless.

He bites his lip in complete worry. He wanted to give back. He wanted to do the same thing for Renjun, at least once. He wanted to let Renjun know that he liked his moomin drawings, that he loved Moomin-Jun and Jae-Moomin. He wanted to be transparent just like how Renjun is to him.

His eyes were growing tired, and his fingers were almost numb. The tip of his pencil had long lost its sharpness, but with a newfound will, Jaemin dips his head down and begins to draw the best image of Moomin-Jun and Jae-Moomin that he could.

The day after, after spending more than an hour perfecting a drawing on a freaking small piece of paper and after five hours of sleep, Jaemin greets Renjun by the halls.

It’s early in the morning, and usually Renjun was the first one to arrive at school everyday, but Jaemin had set his alarm an hour earlier than his usual routine the night before just for this. Just to give him a small green cardboard that might have contained his feelings.

Renjun is visibly surprised as it was unusual for Jaemin to be early. It was unusual for Jaemin to arrive at school with his hair dried. The smaller boy had teased him a little about it.

“So,” Jaemin starts, suddenly feeling conscious and shy for no particular reason. Renjun stares at his embarrassed face, then laughs.

For god’s sake, Jaemin hands the paper to him.

It’s a drawing of Moomin-Jun and Jae-Moomin standing side by side in their school uniforms. Actually, not just standing, but also had their hands linked together, crescent eyes on their face (that particular detail took Jaemin the longest). It’s a bit roughly drawn, not as neat as Renjun’s and not as perfect, but it was Jaemin’s best doodle, and it was for Renjun. The traces of how much he used an eraser were still visible, but he knew that Renjun didn’t pay attention to those because the smaller boy smiles up at him in utter appreciation.

Jaemin feels a surge of pride attack his chest, then beams back at the boy.

Below the drawing was Jaemin’s best handwriting saying, “Jae-Moomin wouldn’t worry about anything as long as Moomin-Jun is holding his hand.”

Renjun reaches out in the space between them, until his fingers find their way intertwining with Jaemin’s.

Jaemin finds it amusing, on how the drawing becomes very accurate all the time.

**Author's Note:**

> i'll swear ill update my chaptered fic tom


End file.
